RealtimeClipboard turns copy and paste into something that works between
devices instead of within one. Open it on two devices, type the same short
key on both, and whatever you copy on one lands on the other's system
clipboard, ready to paste — not as a message you have to select text out of.
It needs no account, no email address and no install. It runs in a browser
tab on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS and ChromeOS, and installs as a
progressive web app if you want it in your dock. Native desktop builds and a
command-line tool are also available.
Unlike AirDrop, LocalSend, Snapdrop or KDE Connect, it is not limited to one
network. Those tools find each other by broadcasting on the local network,
and that broadcast stops at the router. RealtimeClipboard pairs by shared key
instead, so a laptop on home Wi-Fi and a phone on mobile data work exactly
the same as two machines sitting side by side.
Text is encrypted with AES-GCM in your browser before it is sent, and the
relay stores nothing on disk. Files skip the server entirely and travel
directly between the two browsers over WebRTC; when a restrictive network
blocks that, it falls back to encrypted relay chunks and says so in the
interface rather than failing silently. A session can be locked with a PIN
that never travels with the link.
Worth knowing before you rely on it: this is beta. The short key is a bearer
credential, so anyone who learns it can read that session — lock it with a
PIN for anything sensitive. Files are capped at 5 MB. Automatic clipboard
capture needs a Chromium-based browser; Firefox and Safari can send and
receive pasted content but cannot read the clipboard on their own.
MIT licensed, and the relay can be self-hosted with Docker.